Margaret Chase Smith, one of Maine’s most beloved politicians, will be commemorated when the United States Postal Service issues a stamp in her honor.

The USPS announced Thursday that the eighth issuance of the Distinguished Americans series will commemorate Smith, who in 1948 became the first Republican woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

The 58 cent stamp, which covers the 2-ounce rate, will go on sale June 13, according to a USPS news release.

In 1948, having already served in the House of Representatives, Smith became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

On June 1, 1950, Smith gained national attention when she delivered her “Declaration of Conscience” speech attacking the Red-baiting beliefs and practices of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican sometimes referred to as “Tailgunner Joe.”

Her attack on McCarthyism called for an end to “character assassinations” and listed “some of the basic principles of Americanism: the right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; the right of independent thought.”

She said, “Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America,” and assailed the “cancerous tentacles of ‘know nothing, suspect everything’ attitudes.”

Her challenge to McCarthy, which quickly drew broad support, signaled an end to widespread investigations into State Department employees alleged to have Communist sympathies. McCarthy’s offensive against Communists real and imagined had led the nation into a period known as the “Red Scare” that resulted in the blacklisting of many entertainers, among others.

In 1989, President George Herbert Walker Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. Smith died in her hometown of Skowhegan on May 29, 1995. She was 97 years old.

Artist Mark Summers created the portrait on the stamp, according to the USPS.

The artwork is based on a photograph by the Harris & Ewing studio, dated 1948.

Summers is noted for his scratchboard technique, a style distinguished by a dense network of lines etched with exquisite precision.